Animal House (1978)

Director: John Landis

Starring: Tim Matheson, John Belushi, John Vernon, Peter Riegert, Bruce McGil, Karen Allen, Tom Hulce, Stephen Furst, Mark Metcalf, Mary Louise Weller, Martha Smith, James Daughton, Kevin Bacon, Donald Sutherland, Verna Bloom, Otis Day

More info: IMDb

Tagline: We got to do something...You know what we are gonna do ? Toga party!

Plot: At a 1962 College, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those troublemakers have other plans for him.

My rating: 9/10

Will I watch it again? Uh, YEAH!

There are some movies that are so well known and fun that you don't need to say much about it. This is one of them. It's another one of those 'comfort movies' I'll watch every once in a while that takes me back to my childhood. I must have been eleven or so when I caught this late nights on HBO back in '80 or '81. You know the drill. You stayed up super late after everyone was asleep and you'd sneak into the living room to see if you could catch a glimpse of some naked girls on the 'boob tube'. This was one of the earliest for me and therefore has a special place in my heart.


A lot's changed since then (that's debatable) but the movie hasn't. It's still as fun and aloof as it was then and, again, it's one of those time warp movies that take me back to my happy place. CADDYSHACK (1980) is another one. It's been too long. I need to slap that one in soon.

Karen Allen needs to have my babies!

Donald Sutherland...does not.

Tim Matheson and the rest of the cast are hilarious, John Vernon doesn't get to have more fun and Elmer Bernstein's score is delightful. It always cracked me up that this is the same guy that did THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956), THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960), THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963), TRUE GRIT (1969) and on and on, and here he is doing low brow comedy. I love it. This was the first of many comedies for Bernstein who went on to score MEATBALLS (1979), AIRPLANE! (1980), STRIPES (1981), THREE AMIGOS! (1986), etc.

"The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot...is me."

ANIMAL HOUSE is a classic in sophomoric comedy that opened the floodgates for a gazillion copycats and it's a part of my childhood. Now where's the fucking commentary by Landis and the cast, GODDAMNIT!!!